“Sinner” [ft. Kweku Collins, Nick Kosma & Rane Raps]

The 22-year-old rapper Ric Wilson rose through the same creative writing program in Chicago as Chance the Rapper and Vic Mensa, and he shares their prodigious poise. On “Sinner,” the second single from his upcoming EP BANBA, he’s grappling with remorse (“My niggas make hella mistakes/But they are not their sins”) and he brings along Kweku Collins, Rane Raps, and Nick Kosma to help him push through.

The production—helmed by Wilson and his collaborator Hirsh— has a sinewy, neo-soul stickiness to it: A bulbous bass line and chunky synthesizer bounce in funky syncopation, while the chorus, sung by North Carolina vocalist Nick Kosma, has the silvery slick effect of D’Angelo’s erotic falsetto. Rane Raps and Kweku Collins swoop in with quick and capable guest verses about remaining steadfast in their daily grind (“It’s Wednesday, get there,” Collins, another alumnus of that writing program, raps sleepily). But despite the posse approach, “Sinner” is mostly a showcase for Wilson, who raps playful, sing-song couplets about rejection and perseverance without ever taking himself too seriously. Near the end of his second verse, after some casual repentance (“I done a lot of shit that I couldn’t record”), he turns a corner and finds the light: “Now I see in different colors like I’m Yo Gabba Gabba/Rhymes on a nigga like I wrote Llama Llama.” On “Sinner,” Wilson’s uplifting swagger is on full display as he hammers out his difficult, hard-won mission statement.